


The Way It Should Be

by F1_rabbit



Series: Adventures in Cybercrime [1]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crimes & Criminals, M/M, Police
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 19:22:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3866845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1_rabbit/pseuds/F1_rabbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kevin's planning something big, but it is the right thing to do?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Way It Should Be

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Missbeccif1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missbeccif1/gifts).



"I'm going to do this with or without you," Kevin says into his phone. His voice is filled with disappointment, he'd just assumed that they were on the same page, that they wanted this too but it turns out he was wrong. He stabs at the end call button and flings the phone across the room, it doesn't actually make him feel any better but he needs to let his anger out on something.

Kevin's flat is a small place, just big enough for one, but it's filled with endless boxes and files crammed with important information. Since he graduated Kevin's been working as a freelance software designer and it's enough to pay the bills. But he's started working on something else lately, something that's completely taken over his life. It's got to the point that there's no room in his life for anyone or anything else with all the hours spent working on this new project.

All night he's frantically typing away, eyes bloodshot from staring at the screen for so long, an endless stream of coffee keeping him awake. As the sun comes up he drags a couple of files onto a flash drive before secreting it in a hidden pocket inside his jacket. Kevin's dressed in the uniform of a well-known courier company and he's got a couple of parcels tucked under his arm. He pats his pocket, checking that he's definitely got the flash drive, before heading out of the door with a look of grim determination.

*****

Nico groans loudly, his alarm is blaring and he doesn't want to go to work. It was just meant to be a temporary job for a few months while he got a graduate job lined up but that was nearly a year ago now. Working in a restaurant isn't a bad job but it's just not what he wants to be doing. He's got a degree in electrical engineering but there's so few jobs in his field that he's become accustomed to the rejection letters.

He gropes about on the bedside table for his glasses, he loathes having to wear them but without them he's useless. As he puts them on and the world comes into focus for him he surveys his tiny flat, tidy but devoid of any personal touches, this too was meant to be a temporary place but it's slowly become home. It's nothing like what he had imagined for his life. He's not one that needs expensive things to prove that he's better than other people but he would like a place to live that he's not ashamed of when his parents come to visit and hopefully someone special to share it with.

As he puts on his red and yellow uniform Nico almost laughs at his reflection, before he started working for McDonald's he adored having his weekly treat of burgers and chips wrapped in that glorious paper bag that used to make his mouth water and his stomach growl just from the sight of it. However nearly six hundred burgers and chips later the appeal has somehow gone from this once treat. But at least work feed him during the shifts, they don't pay him enough to afford anything other than toast at home.

Thankfully the walk to work is short and he'll be too busy on shift for his mind to torture him with all the things that are wrong with his life. He longs for an adventure, something different, something that will challenge him, but for now this is all he has.

*****

Kevin's chaining up his bicycle in an alley behind MCL bank, he needs to make sure that it'll still be here once he's done. It may not be the most glamorous of getaway vehicles but it's the most practical in a large city where there's constant monitoring of car licence plates. He's strolling into the building and he doesn't look out of place at all in the busy lobby.

Once he's past security and the completely rude receptionist on duty he heads for the lift. He keeps his head down and his cap tilted to block his face from the cameras, not that he needs to bother, he's just a delivery guy, a nobody. The lift pings and he heads out onto the sixth floor but he heads in the opposite direction to the rest of the crowd exiting and ducks into the toilets.

Kevin's in a tiny cubicle stripping off his uniform and opening up the parcels to reveal clothing and other items that he'll need for the next phase of his plan. He puts on some jeans and 'humorous' geeky t-shirt which has written on it;

**There are 10 kinds of people  
** **1\. Those that understand binary**  
**2\. Those that don't**

He's also got a pair of glasses with plain lenses. Kevin's lucky enough to have perfect vision but for some reason people just expect the IT guy (and they always assume it'll be a man) to have glasses. It somehow reassures them that he's a genuine geek who knows what he's doing. There's also hair gel for him to change his hair from scruffy student look to the perfectly sculpted boyband look. This is more for disguise than anything else, it's strange how changing your hairstyle changes the way your face looks, even though it's exactly the same.

Finally he's pulling out a laminated pass, with his photo on, with the logo for Dennis IT. A very well known secure IT support company and the people who provide help with all the computers at MCL Bank. Kevin stuffs all the unwanted clothing and supplies back into the boxes before carefully placing them in the bin and hiding them under a mountain of soggy paper towels. All he needs is an hour, tops, and he'll be out of here, all that matters is that they're not discovered before then.

He winks at his reflection in the mirror before patting his pocket to check that he's still got the flash drive. It's the one thing he needs to pull this off; everything else is just to make doing it easier. Kevin strides into the main office area and looks down at his phone before surveying the workers.

There's a girl sitting bored at her desk, browsing through her tumblr dashboard, the perfect target for his scam. She'll not mind getting a guilt free break from work while the IT guy 'fixes' her machine. It's a pity it'll all trace back to her but this has to be done now, everything else can be sorted out later.

As the girl scurries off Kevin quickly gets to work. The flash drive is plugged in and he's clicking away like a maniac before letting the specially written programs do their job; which is stealing a large amount of data about financial transactions. Although Kevin doesn't like to think of it as theft on his part, it's more like exposing MCL Bank's various crimes that they were hoping no-one would notice. Really, if anything, he's the good guy in this situation, Kevin thinks.

A small pop up appears on the screen, indicating that the programs have done their work and that all the data has been transferred onto the flash drive, which means that it's time for Kevin to leave. He gets as far as the lift and he's already starting to smile about a job well done when all the alarms go off. Kevin heads for the emergency exit while the other people look confused about what's actually going on. Hopefully he'll be away before anyone figures out what the alarm's for.

Kevin's glad he memorised the building layout, he's scurrying along a corridor aiming for an exit that comes out on the alley behind the building. There's no cctv in the alley so he'll be able to get away and disappear into the busy crowds.

*****

Nico's on his break reluctantly stuffing a Big Mac into his mouth; he's only eating it because he's hungry and not because he gets any joy from them anymore. If you'd told his younger self that one day he'd get to eat McDonald's for nearly every meal he'd have thought it was amazing. _It's a shame I had to grow up_ Nico thinks sadly.

"Nico, can you put the rubbish out please?" The manager asks nicely, although Nico knows that even if it sounds like a question it's actually an order. Nico doesn't sigh as he stands up but his hunched demeanour says everything about how he's feeling right now. He gathers up the wrappers from his lunch and puts them in the bin before going round collecting up all the bags of rubbish to take to the outdoor bins. Little does he know that a more interesting life is about to catch up with him, whether he wants it to or not.

*****

Kevin bursts through the door, relief washing over him as he steps out into the alley but as he exits he notices a police car blocking the end of the alley. He turns to head back into the building just as the door clicks closed, being a fire escape there's no handle on the outside, there's no way back now.

He's wondering how he's going to get out of this as two police officers creep towards him, unsure if he's a threat or not. Kevin's not interested in hurting anyone, he's unarmed but he doesn't want to be arrested, not yet anyway. He needs to put all the data together, have definitive proof of MCL Bank's crimes. Also he's not sure which police officers can be trusted, bribery is just one of the many offences the bank's guilty of.

Kevin considers jumping on one of the large bins and onto the flat roof to make his escape when a door opens and a tall blond man comes out carrying several bags of rubbish. The police officers are now only a few meters away and Kevin takes his chance, tackling the tall man so that he ends up with his arm around his throat, which is not easy given his own height.

He yells to the police, "I've got a gun and I'm not afraid to use it!" Kevin could almost cringe at how clichéd it sounds but he's hoping it's convincing enough. Thankfully for him his _hostage_ seems quite scared even though Kevin's sure if he wanted to he could probably beat Kevin in a fight.

Kevin's dragging his hostage through the door as one of the police officers radio for their armed response unit. He's lucky the police aren't armed here, in America they'd have shot and killed him already.

"Is there anyway out of here apart from the front door?" Kevin asks his hostage. He's surprised how calm his voice sounds, his heart is racing and he's not sure how he's going to get out of this without adding any more crimes to his already quite long list of offences.

"Uh, yeah, follow me," the hostage says quietly. He ducks out of Kevin's hold easily and when he actually looks at him he's relieved at how ordinary he looks, how young he appears and that contrary to what he told the police there doesn't seem to be any sign of a weapon. He adjusts his glasses where they've been knocked by Kevin and as he's leading him down the corridor to the underground delivery garage Nico wonders why he's actually helping this guy. He could have run away many times and given the height difference he could probably fight him if he had to.

Once they're near the exit Nico considers just going back into work, pretending nothing happened but before he can stop himself he's asking, "there's an abandoned building near my flat, we could hide out there, if you want?"

Kevin hadn't expected this. _Can someone get Stockholm syndrome this quickly?_ But he'd be a fool to turn down this offer. He knows that he can't go home and there's no-one left for him to turn to here.

"Sure, lead the way," Kevin beams and it feels like he's picking this guy up in a bar not using him to escape from the police.

Nico throws off his work uniform, leaving him in just a t-shirt and black trousers. He almost looks young enough to still be in high school but there's something in his eyes that looks jaded and tired of the world. Kevin removes the glasses and zips up his jacket before running his fingers through his hair to let it flop down around his face.

They slip out of the garage and straight into the busy street, just two average looking guys wandering about town on their lunch break.

*****

"Ericsson!"

"Yes Massa," Marcus replies quickly. It's never a good sign when someone's shouting for him.

"You're needed on the MCL Bank investigation. It's one of your hacker friends," Massa smirks. Marcus is sick of being treated this way because his specialty is cyber crimes. He's got a degree in computer science so it only makes sense that he puts it to good use and he has done all the same police training as everyone else on the force. But yet the general consensus is that cyber crimes aren't 'real' crimes. Just because he spends more time in the office than on the street doesn't mean the work he does is any less valuable. If anything he's stopped more predators and thieves than most of the Officers who walk the street, the only difference is he's never been attacked by a criminal while working.

Marcus scurries along to the meeting room and braces himself for the 'jokes' that his fellow officers will make at his expense. After the usual mutterings about him being nothing more than a typist the room is calm and Sergeant Whiting, speaks.

"We're looking for a white male, average height, average build, blond hair, blue eyes, last seen wearing this." A picture of Kevin flashes up on the screen with what he was wearing after he'd got into the office. "We believe him to be the hacker known as K-Mag," they continue, "but this is the first time he's done something criminal".

Marcus is well aware of their work, mainly crashing servers that host child porn and spamming the spammers. None of it's technically illegal and law enforcement everywhere is happy that someone's doing it, since they're all so hopelessly understaffed when it comes to these kinds of crime. Sometimes Marcus wishes that he had a bit more power himself but that's not the way the law works.

"Ericsson, we need you to go to the crime scene. Talk to the bank's security about what's been stolen and see if our hacker left anything that we can use to catch him." The word hacker is practically spat out but there are no other officers that really understand these things. Marcus wanders back to his office to grab his laptop and his stab-proof vest, hopefully overkill for visiting the bank but protocol dictates that it's worn when they're on duty outside the station, before getting a lift to the bank with Nasr.

*****

The abandoned house looks a little run-down, they don't build houses like it anymore, but it's not what Kevin had in mind. There's a large scruffy hedge blocking the view and the overgrown garden with a mixture of sharp and stinging plants that will stop all but the most determined visitors. Once they've snuck round the side and got in through an unlocked door (well, it was unlocked by the time Kevin had finished with it), they end up rooting around the kitchen looking for something to eat.

"The old guy who used to live here died and the family sold it to a company who are going to tear it down so that they can build flats here," Nico explains absently. He's just slumped on the floor in a heap; the adrenaline has given way to exhaustion. It somehow feels odd to be in the empty house now; he'd never been in when the owner was alive. Nico didn't really know him that well but he used to see him walking his dog when he was on his way to and from work. They used to chat about nothing in particular, just passing the time of day.

Kevin makes an 'mm' noise while Nico's talking, just enough to show he's listening, as he's hunting about for food. He is genuinely interested in what Nico's saying but he's also quite hungry.

Nico's wondering what he's doing here. Is he that desperate for some excitement that he's happy to be involved in something criminal? But there's something about this guy that he's envious of, they're confident, happy to make split-second decisions and they're not on the verge of having a panic attack. Nico takes off his glasses to rub his eyes while he thinks about what he's going to do next. Is he just going to follow this guy until the police catch up with them? Nico doesn't even know his name, although it might be better if he doesn't know, and yet it seems he might be willing to go to jail for him.

"Dinner is served, m'lord!" Kevin says mockingly before handing Nico a can of baked beans and a spoon. Nico smiles and quickly puts his glasses back on, almost poking out an eye in the process. Kevin helps Nico to his feet and leads him to the sofa, there's no electricity but there's more sunlight coming in to the front of the house.

They quietly eat the beans, the occasional sound of spoon scraping against can the only noises. Once they're finished eating Kevin clears everything away before returning with a couple of beers, it's either that or water since there's no power to make coffee.

Nico downs his beer in one, he was just going to take a sip but with all the craziness today maybe letting the alcohol take the edge off isn't a bad thing. When he finishes it Kevin hands him another beer with a cheeky grin.

"So…" Nico asks. He's not really sure how to phrase the question he wants to ask. Nico's acutely aware that he might be in actual danger; although Kevin seems nice, he's got no idea why the police are after him. Luckily Kevin appears to have the gift of mind-reading.

"Why are the police after me?" Kevin says calmly. Like he's talking about what he had for breakfast. Nico makes a soft noise in agreement, willing Kevin to carry on talking. Kevin knows he's got a captive audience, figuratively and literally, so he's going to take his time. He takes a slow sip from his beer and Nico watches his lips with fascination, they look just perfect wrapped around the bottle, until Kevin speaks and jolts him out of his daydream.

"My Mum, she worked for a bank. It was a good job, well paid, lots of bonuses. She was there for many years until suddenly everyone was made redundant, but she thought it would be okay because she had the house and some savings," Kevin says shaking his head in disbelief, "but all her savings were linked to the bank and her house was worth the same as the mortgage so she ended up with nothing."

"The little bank she worked for was a subsidiary of MCL Bank, they deliberately manipulated the figures so that their executives could line their pockets and the little people would get nothing," Kevin spits. Nico can see the anger in his eyes, the desire for revenge.

Nico wants to ask about his Mum but he doesn't want to interrupt Kevin. He does feel sorry for him but he's still not sure how this justifies committing a crime.

"I've always been good with computers," Kevin continues, "and then I studied computer science at university." Kevin pauses and Nico motions for him to carry on, even though he's not sure where this story is going, but he's fascinated nonetheless.

"Then one day a gift of a project fell into my lap," Kevin says as a smile creeps onto his face, "a secure data encryption program for MCL Bank. Which gave me an opportunity to leave myself back door access to their files; not remotely, that would be noticed, but from their head office directly. I thought I'd be in and out without anyone noticing but then the alarms went off and you know the rest…" Kevin trails off, lost in his thoughts.

"I just needed hard evidence of what they are up to," Kevin says softly, "I didn't mean to get anyone else caught up in this."

Nico rests his hand on Kevin's knee, he's not sure why but he really wants to comfort him, tell him that it'll all be ok but he's not sure if it will be. In the end he simply says, "I wanted a break from my normal life and now I've got it." Kevin stares intensely at him. Nico's not sure if it's the beer, the adrenaline or Kevin's big blue eyes persuading him but he lunges in for a kiss. They're straight into a passionate kiss, tongues exploring like tentacles as hands try and liberate each other from all that clothing.

When the moans subside and the kiss ends Nico says, "I don't even know your name".

"Kevin."

"Nico."

"Beautiful name for a beautiful guy," Kevin says just to watch Nico smile. It's a wonderful smile and although he knows that this is probably a bad idea, a primal response to a stressful situation, he can't help but lean in for another kiss, and another, and another.

*****

"PC Nasr and Ericsson," he says pointing to Marcus as they hold up their id's for the security guy at the bank. They're expecting them so it's only a matter of minutes before they're being escorted to the sixth floor, the scene of the crime.

The office is deserted, the staff have all been taken to a meeting room to be interviewed about what happened. It looks like any other office in any other building. If they didn't already know what they did here they wouldn't be able to guess.

They're given a file with all the details of the employee whose desk it is. She's currently in police custody until they figure out if she's in on it or not, although from what Marcus knows of this hacker he'd be very surprised if they had someone helping them. They seem to be a lone wolf, either they don't work well with others or they don't want anyone else getting in to trouble. Marcus isn't sure which one is true but he hopes it's the latter, somehow that makes them seem more noble.

Marcus asks if forensics are done with the desk and once he gets the all clear he sits down and starts to go through all the recent activity on the computer. There's no sign of the programs that would be needed to steal data from a secure system but he wasn't expecting to find any evidence here. However the bank should know which files were accessed and copied at the time the hacker was in the building.

The next stop is the bank manager, a guy called Ecclestone, who has an odd demeanour which changes to downright suspicious when Marcus asks about the compromised files.

"Does it matter what was stolen?" Mr. Ecclestone asks incredulously. "This guy has to be stopped!"

"One, if we don't have any evidence of what was stolen we can't charge this guy with theft. Two, knowing what he took will help us catch him before he can sell the data on," Marcus says in an authoritative tone, although there's something about the bank manager's evasive answers that sets off alarm bells.

"I'm sure your shareholders and customers don't want their account details in the hands of criminals," Marcus says. It's not a threat but it really does sound like one.

"I know the commissioner," Mr. Ecclestone says hastily. This is most definitely a threat, however Marcus chooses to ignore it, this is not argument he'll win. He looks to his colleague for support but Nasr looks downright bored at being stuck on this case.

"All we want is our data back and this guy caught," Mr. Ecclestone says stubbornly.

"Any information you give us will remain completely confidential and it will help us catch the guy who did this. I suggest you talk to your lawyers," Marcus adds while tapping Nasr's shoulder to indicate that they're leaving now. A card with the details for Sergeant Whiting is left on the desk. Marcus has got all the useful information he's going to get from here. Now he needs to see the cctv surrounding the building, see if he can determine where the hacker escaped to.

Marcus is back in the car and they're heading for the police cctv headquarters but the traffic is slow, it's rush hour now, although it tends to last two or three hours.

"Did you think there was something suspicious about the bank manager?" Marcus asks Nasr while they're stopped at traffic lights. When he gets no response he carries on thinking out loud, "what do they have to hide?"

"I guess they just don't want people to know their security sucks," Nasr adds with a shrug. But Marcus heavily suspects that their reasons for trying to keep this quiet are much more sinister than that.

After an hour of awkward silence in the car they're finally at the CCTV headquarters. They flash their badges at the entrance but they recognise quite a few of the people from crime scenes or the station. Another PC leads the way to the main room and introduces them to the PC on duty.

They know that the hacker was spotted in the alley behind the bank, but there's no cameras there, so they check the only exit but there's no sign of their guy. The report on his sighting shows that he dragged a hostage into McDonald's and then disappeared before armed response could show up. So they check the CCTV for the exits from there, nothing spotted at the main doors but the delivery entrance gives them a glimpse of their hacker with a second guy. _Is he the hostage?_ Marcus wonders, but he doesn't look like he's under any duress, could he be in on it?

Following the two suspects through the busy town centre, even though there's lots of cameras covering the area, is hard due to the sheer number of people milling about and after a couple of streets they lose sight of two suspects. Marcus sighs, yet another dead end and they're no closer to catching them.

"Anyone got an idea who the hostage/accomplice might be?" Marcus asks, and the PC scrabbles to pull up the investigation files on the computer. It's only got the details of where the 'kidnapping' took place but not who was taken. Marcus grabs the phone and calls up the manager of McDonald's, a Bob Fearnley, this should have been done already by the PC's at the scene earlier, and asks if any of his staff went missing at around 12 p.m. today.

"Yeah, one of the guys didn't come back after lunch but he'd not be the first person just to walk out halfway through a shift. We have quite a high staff turnover," Bob Fearnley says and he can hear the disinterest in his voice.

"Does this guy have a name?" Marcus asks. He tries, and fails, not to sound impatient.

"Nico, Nico Hülkenberg," Bob Fearnley says and Marcus quickly thanks him before hanging up. The PC's already putting the name into the database; it checks criminal records, drivers' licences and visas. After a couple of minutes it finds a driver's licence and all of Nico's information pops up on the screen, address, height, the fact that he wears glasses and that he's an organ donor.

Marcus scribbles down the address and radios in that they're going to check it out, as well as putting out a general alert for any sightings of Nico and the hacker. He runs back to the car with Nasr trailing behind him.

Their journey to Nico's flat is made so much quicker with the blue flashing lights and siren blaring. Less than fifteen minutes later they're banging on the door. There's no answer and they've not yet got a warrant to search the place so all they can do is chat to a couple of neighbours, all of whom give similar responses of the theme 'quiet guy, kept to himself', which doesn't really help them get a warrant or figure out if he's a victim or a criminal.

Reluctantly they leave the flat but all the neighbours that spoke to them have their details and instructions to call if they see Nico or anyone else lurking around the flat. Marcus doubts he would be stupid enough to come home if he's involved but if he's a hostage then who knows where the two of them might end up.

Slinking back into the station with new information that doesn't actually answer any questions, Marcus prepares for a long night trying to work out what the bank is hiding. As he gets back to his desk Sergeant Whiting quizzes him on what he's found out. He gives the highlights of his afternoon, including all the dead ends, and how certain PC's on patrol need to do their job a bit better.

"So, no luck finding your boyfriend?" Massa shouts out from his desk nearby. Marcus freezes in panic, his first thought is _how do they know?_ Before he realises that he's just saying that to be a smartass, because the other guys around here find this sort of thing funny and they actually have no idea that he's gay or that until yesterday he was dating 'the hacker known as K-Mag' or more accurately Kevin that he went to university with.

"No luck finding the suspect or his hostage or accomplice," Marcus states before sarcastically adding, "I didn't know you were working on the MCL Bank investigation." Sergeant Whiting scowls at Massa to get back on with his own work. It'll not earn Marcus any friends but if anyone finds out he knows Kevin, _the suspect_ and didn't say anything he'll not only be fired but charged with perverting the course of justice.

He'd warned Kevin not to do this, to let him find a legal way to bring the bank to account for their crimes. Marcus had pleaded with him but he just wouldn't listen, Kevin was tired of waiting and when he got the job working on their security system it pushed him into action.

Marcus replays the last conversation that he had with Kevin, trying to see if he left any hints about what he would do afterwards.

_"I'm going in tomorrow," Kevin says._

_"Please wait, I'm still trying to find a way to do this legally," Marcus pleads. They've been together so long that he knows Kevin won't back down. It's both adorable and annoying all at the same time._

_"You've been saying that for two years now. I have this opportunity now but if I wait it'll disappear and who knows when I'll get another chance," Kevin says stubbornly. "You don't care about justice, only upholding laws that protect these criminals!" Kevin yells, it sounds strange distorted by the phone's low quality speaker._

_"I love you, please don't do this!" Marcus pleads but Kevin's not listening to him._

_"I'm going to do this with or without you," and Marcus can hear the disappointment in Kevin's voice. As the line goes dead Marcus slumps onto the floor in the locker room. He's on shift now, if he was to leave for a couple of hours it would be suspicious and Kevin knows that. That's why Kevin waited until now to call; so that there's nothing Marcus could do to stop him. Marcus' blood runs cold, there's no way he can avoid being called into this investigation, he's the only one that understands cyber crimes and Kevin knows this too. But will he be able to protect Kevin? And does he want to?_

It's nearly midnight and he's been on shift for over twenty-four hours now, he's barely eaten today and his head is just spinning with worry. But he can't leave until he's at least tried to make this situation better. He's going to talk to his superior about the bank's crimes and see if they can at least use this mess to get a conviction there. It probably won't excuse Kevin's crimes but it would make him feel better.

His talk with Sergeant Whiting leaves him feeling worse. He's told that there's not enough evidence to open an investigation against the bank and that once the hacker is caught it can all be sorted out then. Although Marcus knows that they'll find a way to cover it all up while making sure that Kevin goes to jail for stealing customer accounts or however they end up spinning it to make sure that the public think Kevin's the bad guy and not them.

Once Marcus is home he tries to sleep but he ends up wondering where Kevin is and what he's doing now.

*****

Kevin's straddling Nico's lap as he pulls off his t-shirt to reveal his tattoos. He loves that just the sight of them renders Nico speechless and uses this to peel Nico out of his t-shirt too. Nico's glasses end up tangled in his t-shirt and Kevin extricates them and places them on the coffee table out of the way.

Nico's thankful that he's short sighted so that he can still see Kevin and his magnificent tattoos without his glasses. He slowly kisses his way along the edge of his large chest tattoo, making sure to take his time dragging his tongue and lips over Kevin's sensitive nipples, and is rewarded with almost pornographic moans.

Kevin grows impatient with Nico and drags him into a sloppy kiss while he tries to discreetly rearrange himself as there's now a lot less space in his jeans. He pulls his jeans and boxers down so that his raging erection can be free. Nico bites his lip and Kevin pushes Nico back on the sofa so that he can slide him out of his jeans. It takes every bit of his self control not to embarrass himself at the sight of Nico's cock, it's big and thick and he's practically drooling over it. As he's staring a small drop of pre-come oozes out and with that Kevin's wrapping his lips around Nico's cock, moaning in pleasure and gagging from the size of him in equal measure.

Nico's gasping the word 'fuck' over and over again as a slightly blurry but content looking Kevin sucks him off with ease now that he's settled into a rhythm. Kevin looks just so good with a cock in his mouth, like it's his natural state, and Nico's running his fingers through Kevin's hair but he's trying not place any pressure on him. He just loves how soft Kevin's hair feels. Kevin's coordination is being fully tested as he tries to fully take Nico into his mouth while his left hand plays with Nico's balls and his right hand strokes his own cock.

The taste of come starts to fill Kevin's mouth and it pushes him over the edge, it's a spectacular orgasm, he's not felt like this in a long while. Not since… Nico goes limp and Kevin suddenly feels sick, everything he's done over the last day hits him with full force and he staggers to the bathroom. Leaving Nico, who's already beginning to sleep, calm and content on the sofa.

Kevin locks the bathroom door and tears are streaming down his face. How could he do this? Not the crimes, they're justified to expose the bank's larger crimes, but cheat on his boyfriend? He loves Marcus; he's loved him since the first day they met. Yes, they've been distant lately, arguing about this stupid fucking bank, the stupid fucking laws that protect them. Even though he knows Marcus does his best to make sure justice prevails, that's why he became a police officer, to make the world a better place. And Kevin's so proud of him, proud that he's his boyfriend. They'd even been talking about marriage but then he'd shut him out and moved out. Given up on the best thing he has in his life and for what?

All the destructive thoughts gang up on him and he's curled up on the floor, hand stuffed in his mouth to muffle the cries, wondering how he managed to fuck up his life so badly.

*****

There's a soft knock on the door and Kevin wakes with a jolt. His body aches all over from sleeping on the cold hard floor. It takes him a minute to realise where he is, but when he does he ends up taking huge deep breaths to stop him bursting into tears again. He knows if he doesn't get his shit together he's going to end up in jail.

"I was just going to get a cold shower!" Kevin jokes and he hopes it's enough to convince Nico that everything's okay.

"Sure," is Nico's response and he sounds anything but.

Kevin hears the lock turn and Nico enters still holding the screwdriver he used to open the simple lock. Nico sees Kevin fully naked, water running down over his heavily inked skin; somehow he looks completely different now that the lust has been removed from the equation. Still ridiculously good looking but strangely he looks more real, more human than before.

"Brave enough to get a shower?" Kevin mocks, giving Nico a cheeky wink. Nico shakes his head and Kevin wanders out to rummage around the house to find some clothing. He puts his own boxers back on but the rest of the clothes are courtesy of the deceased homeowner. Kevin thinks he should feel bad about taking them but if anyone wanted them they'd have collected them already, rather than leaving them to be demolished with the house.

Once he's dressed Kevin feels like he could face an army, on his own, without blinking. The cold has snapped him out of his self-loathing and given him an idea about how he's going to get out of this situation.

*****

Marcus is sitting on the floor in the locker room for the second day in a row. There are no new leads as to where Kevin could have gone and he's getting increasingly desperate. He's sure Kevin must be equally desperate as apart from him he doesn't really have any friends to turn to in the city. Marcus racks his mind trying to work out where he could be when it suddenly hits him.

_He may not have many friends, but he does have a computer savvy enemy here._

*****

Dany's sitting around his small computer repair shop, although it seems to double as an internet café, if people bring their own tea and coffee, and general hangout for the computer game obsessed. There are sofas and other assorted bits of furniture that have been rescued from the side of the road and skips, along with random old video games and pinball machines. It's pretty much what his younger self dreamed of, a cool hangout for the geeky, and it suits Dany perfectly.

He's got a few bits lined up for today and he's sure that many of his regulars will drop in some time and keep him amused with their tales but at no point did he think he would end up helping an ex-boyfriend evade the police.

So when Dany opens the shutters for the shop, the last person he expects to see is Kevin fucking Magnussen. Dany stares for a long time, mouth wide open; waiting for Kevin to talk.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Dany asks when Kevin doesn't respond. They haven't really seen each other in four years, since they dated for a few weeks in university. Kevin and Marcus had been on a break when Marcus had gone home for the summer in second year. Marcus had said it would be easier than being in a long distance relationship but Kevin had assumed he was going home to another boyfriend. Kevin had gone to Dany for a shoulder to cry on, knowing that Dany had a crush on him, so one thing led to another and they ended up sleeping together. A lot. But when Marcus returned Kevin had ditched Dany and gone running back to Marcus; which after that their friendship had suffered and it was awkward because all three of them were on the same course.

Two years of watching Kevin and Marcus be all adorable and loving, followed by a brief period of actually having Kevin all to himself, only to have to endure two more years of watching Kevin and Marcus fawn all over each other. Dany's over it now, but at the time he was so mad at Kevin for using him.

"So are you and Marcus on a break again?" Dany says sarcastically while eyeing up Nico in a not so subtle way.

"Uh, yeah, but that's not why I'm here," Kevin says awkwardly. This seemed like a great idea in his head, there's no way anyone could connect him and Dany anymore and he's got all the equipment he needs to make the bank documents public. But he didn't think Dany would still be mad at him.

"If you're looking for a threesome, I'm taken," Dany says in a monotone voice. Kevin laughs and Nico tries to avoid making eye contact with anyone. Nico's not sure how Kevin thought this would help but the longer they stand here the greater the chance that someone might spot them.

"Can we come in?" Nico asks in his politest voice, since Kevin only seems to be irritating Dany.

"Fine," Dany says huffily before standing aside to let them in.

Kevin and Nico shuffle into the shop, once they're inside Kevin darts for Dany's laptop, he's bypassed the password before Dany can even ask him what the fuck he thinks he's doing?

Dany just rolls his eyes at Kevin, there's no stopping him once he's connected to the matrix.

"I'm Dany," he says since Kevin's not even bothered to introduce them.

"Nico," he says putting out a hand but Dany just drags him into a hug. "So how do you know Kevin?" he asks but he could slap himself in the face for asking since he'd already guessed that they're exes.

Two coffees and twenty minutes of nodding and furious agreeing later Nico's been told the entire story of Dany and Kevin and he's got a sneaking suspicion that he's just another Dany…

"How'd you know Kevin?" Dany asks with a smirk, he knows that the only reason that Kevin would show up here is if things have gone badly wrong.

Nico thinks about explaining everything but he's not sure how much he wants to incriminate himself so he simply says, "it's a long story." 

Dany laughs manically. "It always is with Kevin," he adds, shaking his head. "He leaves a trail of nothing but chaos and broken hearts," Dany adds but there's no malice in his voice.

"He's the reason I'm unemployed…" Nico shrugs. It wasn't a good job but at least they paid him. He chats to Dany a bit about his job situation but it only depresses him so Nico changes the subject.

Nico asks Dany about who he's seeing and is being shown lots of photos and videos of him and a ridiculously cheery Australian messing about in various cities around the world.

"You two seem perfect together," Nico says sincerely although he's a little bit envious.

Kevin abruptly stands up and grabs his hoodie from the back of the seat. He walks over to Nico and leads him to the back entrance of the shop without a 'thank you' or a 'goodbye'.

"Nice to see you again! It was fun catching up! Drop by anytime!" Dany yells sarcastically as Nico is dragged out of the building. He only just hears Nico saying 'it was nice to meet you' as Kevin carries on, oblivious to all that's going on around him.

They're standing on a small street when a car pulls up next to them and it's being driven by a guy in a police uniform. Nico wants to run but Kevin isn't moving so he just stays still, praying that Kevin knows what he's doing.

"Get in," Marcus yells. Nico looks confused but Kevin shoves him into the car before sliding in behind him. They take off at full speed but they're not heading into town towards the police station. Nico starts to worry that they're going to end up dead in a field somewhere but the way Kevin's absently stroking his hand and sitting calmly means this must be okay. Before he can think about it too much they're pulling into a small car park.

There are several cars parked but none of them are police cars so they're definitely not at a police station. Kevin leads Nico out of the car and the three of them walk up to a third floor flat. Nico's just trying to stop his mind panicking about how maybe he's going to end up dead and no-one would even care when he's lead into a quite nice studio flat.

Kevin gestures for him to take a seat which he does obediently. When he looks up Marcus is stripping off his police uniform. Nico tries not to stare but fails; instead he takes off his glasses and cleans them so that he can't watch anymore. Marcus pulls on some jeans and a sweatshirt, he looks completely ordinary now. _Was the police uniform a fake?_ Nico wonders.

"I'm sorry, you were right," Marcus says. Nico rushes to put his glasses back on, only to see that Marcus is looking at Kevin in a way that is just pure love. Marcus pulls Kevin into a messy kiss, Nico can see tongues poking out and there's a lot of moaning. _Was he in on it all along?_ Nico thinks but he's not entirely sure that he understands what's going on. In fact he's pretty sure that ever since he's been held 'hostage' (although he's in far too deep to be anything other than an accomplice now) his assumptions about the situation have been completely wrong.

Nico considers just walking out and going to the nearest police station but he's not even sure how he would tell the story. Instead he coughs so that Kevin and the other guy don't end up having sex in front of him.

"Sorry," Kevin says and considering how rude he was to Dany, Nico feels he should be grateful that he bothered to apologise.

"So are you going to tell me what the fuck is going on?" Nico says and he feels proud for actually taking a stand even if they're Dany's words coming out of his mouth.

Marcus just stares at Kevin, he'd also like an explanation as to why he still has a hostage. And why he was holding his hand.

Kevin wanders off to get some clothes from the wardrobe and then heads to the shower. Leaving Marcus and Nico just to stare at each other blankly.

"PC Marcus Ericsson," he says and finds his police ID to show Nico. He's not really sure what he's hoping to achieve. Marcus is still hoping that Nico's in on all of this and is just playing dumb as a cover in case they get caught by the police. However from what he's seen that's probably not the case but he also doesn't look like he's an unwilling hostage which means one less criminal charge against Kevin.

"Nico Hülkenberg," he says. He has no idea that Marcus knows who he is but he's put together all the pieces and worked out that he's Kevin's boyfriend. And although Kevin said to Dany earlier that they had broken up, it doesn't look like that to him.

"Tell me everything that happened from the second you met Kevin," Marcus asks in his best interrogation voice. The voice that says it would be best if you tell me everything rather than make me ask for it.

Marcus' tone of voice is very convincing and Nico tells him _everything_. He's too ashamed to look at Marcus when he tells him about the blow job Kevin gave him, but from what Dany told him this is not the first time they've broken up and Kevin's found comfort in the nearest human with a pulse.

By the time Nico's finished telling Marcus his version of events, Kevin reappears in a fluffy dressing gown.

"If you want to press charges for kidnapping, I'll take you down to the station and we can get this sorted properly," Marcus says and he means every word of it. He's not really sure how else to fix this mess.

"It's cool," Kevin says, "he offered to help," he says with a shrug. There's not even a hint of remorse at what he's done.

"I wasn't involved," Nico says quickly, "but I just wanted a little bit of excitement."

"So that solves one problem," Marcus says but he's no idea how to put any of this right so that they don't all end up in jail.

Marcus looks much less happy with Kevin than he did an hour ago. "Tell me what happened," he says to Kevin and there's no trace of PC Ericsson here; unsurprisingly he sounds like a jealous boyfriend.

"Uh, so I went to Dany's and uploaded the bank's files to some interested parties including many law enforcement agencies around the world," Kevin says smugly as though that's everything fixed.

"You're still wanted by the police!" Marcus says incredulously. He can't believe how Kevin's acting, as though this is just a game.

"You always want me," Kevin smirks and Marcus looks like he would put him in handcuffs and drag him down to the station himself just to wipe the smirk off his face.

"I'm just going to go home," Nico says quietly, hoping he can get out before their argument gets nasty.

"We're trying to get a warrant to search your flat," Marcus says calmly, "so you should stay here until we get this figured out". From what he's been told there's not really enough to charge Kevin with kidnapping, which is a relief, but they'll never believe that Nico had nothing to do with Kevin's crimes. He either has to be a victim or a criminal, there's no grey areas in the law when it comes to these things.

Nico's not really got anywhere to go so it's not a big inconvenience for him. Marcus gets him some towels and offers to wash his clothes which Nico graciously accepts. As Nico gets into the shower he can hear Kevin whining about getting some sleep and Marcus ranting at him about how he's only had one hour of sleep in three days because of him.

The shower feels so good and combined with unburdening his soul to Marcus, Nico feels like he might actually be happy for the first time in a long while. Just as long as he doesn't think about the fact that he's unemployed and wanted by the police…

When he steps out of the shower the flat is eerily quiet and he finds Kevin and Marcus fast asleep in each other's arms. He starts to wander back to the seats but a quiet voice calls to him.

"There's room for you too," Marcus says sleepily, patting the bed next to them. Nico slides in behind Kevin and is surprised how quickly he falls asleep, arms wrapped around Kevin as he softly snores.

*****

The sound of Marcus' phone ringing wakes Kevin with a jolt and for the second time in as many days he wonders where he is. It's sad that the place he thought of as home for so long is unfamiliar to him after just a couple of months away.

"Ericsson," Marcus says quietly while tiptoeing to the other end of the flat, "I'll be there as soon as I can".

Marcus finds a clean uniform from the wardrobe and stops to kiss Kevin gently before leaving a note that says:

 _Had to go into work, on my day off, because of you!_  
_Don't leave the flat and don't cheat on me with your hostage!_  
_M x_

Kevin will know he's joking although he's still amazed at the amount of drama he seems to leave in his wake.

Nico wakes up when the door clicks closed and he tries to get out of bed so as not to wake Kevin but it doesn't work. Kevin has a laugh when he sees the note but Nico's not so amused.

"I would never have done that if I knew you had a boyfriend," Nico blurts.

"He's not mad at you," Kevin says softly. _He's mad at me_.

*****

"You'll never believe what's happened," Sergeant Whiting smirks as Marcus walks into the station.

"Have we caught the hacker?" Marcus asks, although he knows they can't have. Not unless they raided his flat in the fifteen minutes it took him to get here, which is unlikely.

"No. Now the bank's claiming there was no break in. Even though we have it on video. They're saying it was just a scheduled test from their security firm and someone got their wires crossed. And it's completely unrelated to all the charges being filed against them in various countries for all sorts of dodgy dealings."

Marcus makes a 'huh' sound as he's actually no idea what to say. "And the hostage?" he asks reluctantly.

"Handed over to missing persons," Sergeant Whiting adds, "it's a strange one," he says shaking his head. On the one hand they're happy to have a potentially messy case closed so easily but there's still a lot of unanswered questions that he doesn't want coming back to bite them later.

"Am I needed for anything else?" Marcus asks, and he's told that he needs to finish up his report on the kidnapping for missing persons.

Marcus is desperately thinking as he types up his report. He's not sure how to tell everyone that Nico's fine without getting Kevin into trouble. As he sends the report over he remembers a lawyer that he did a favour for once, if nothing else he might be able to give a little bit of free advice.

*****

He drives as fast as he can without breaking any laws. Marcus just needs to get home and tell Kevin the good news. Then they can figure out what to do about Nico. Hopefully his lawyer friend will be able to help.

Marcus arrives home to find three people in the flat; Kevin, Nico and Paul the lawyer. They're all chatting away and munching toast like it's brunch with friends and not a meeting with a lawyer on how to avoid jail time for all three of them.

They quickly come up with a plan for Nico. To go to the police, with Paul, and tell them that he was taken hostage but that he never saw his attacker. That they ran off as soon as they were inside the restaurant. The video shows him leaving with someone but it's so fuzzy that no-one could say definitely in court that it's Kevin. Nico will tell them that he's fine, he was sick of his job anyway and that was the final straw and he didn't realise people were looking for him until now. Paul will tell them that Nico doesn't want to press charges, which will help make sure there are no loose ends for people to investigate. He'll also make sure that the missing persons case is closed and that will be the end of this crazy adventure.

Paul stands and puts a hand out for Nico. "Are you ready to do this?" Nico nods, there's something calming about the soft accent that reassures him.

*****

"I forgive you," Marcus says. It's just the two of them and all he wants is for everything to go back to the way it was before Kevin decided to take the law into his own hands.

"For what?" Kevin says, genuinely confused. He'd assumed that now everything is sorted that it would all just go back to the way it was before he went to play vigilante.

"For committing forty-one separate crimes including kidnapping, for making me commit a crime to protect you, for cheating on me with Nico, need I go on?" Marcus sighs.

"Uh, I'm not sorry about exposing a corrupt bank and making sure justice prevails!" Kevin says cheerily, but the smile fades quickly as he thinks about Nico. "How did you know?" Kevin asks and Marcus just shakes his head.

"I asked Nico to tell me _everything_ and he did. Are you telling me he's a liar?"

"No," says Kevin quietly and before he can even get the words out there's tears gathering, ready to run rivers down his face to show Marcus how sorry he is. "I'm so sorry, I love you, I want to be with you," is all he can manage before he's crying in Marcus' arms.

"I love you too," Marcus whispers softly until the tears stop. He carries Kevin back to bed and curls up with him in his arms. Everything is back to the way it was. To the way it should be.

*****

"You did really well in there," Paul says soothingly. They're back in the car and he's giving Nico a lift back to his place. Paul's made sure that not only is Nico no longer missing but also the outstanding search warrants have been stopped.

"Thanks," Nico says. He should feel relieved that it's all over but now reality is coming back to him with a vengeance. He's jobless, soon to be homeless and worst of all loveless.

Nico's got no idea how he'll ever repay Marcus or Paul for helping him get out of this mess. He knows how he wants to repay Kevin though, by punching him hard in the face, for getting him into this mess in the first place.

He offers Paul a coffee just because the number of times he's said 'thank you' is starting to verge on ridiculous.

As they walk up to the flat it feels like a strange reminder of a life that no longer exists. It's like he's ended up in a parallel universe where everything looks the same and everyone else is the same but he's a completely different person.

Nico's leafing through the mail that has piled up over the last two days while wandering back from the kitchen after he'd put the kettle on. Paul's still standing in the hall waiting for him when Nico sees a familiar logo on one of the envelopes. He frantically tears the letter open to see the magic words that he's been waiting for. A job offer. For him. Here in the city. He's so excited that he runs over to Paul and hugs him.

"Good news?" Paul asks, he's happy to hug Nico; it's been a while since he's been close to anyone, and even though he hasn't really got a chance to get to know Nico he feels like they've known each other for a long while.

"I've got a job, a job that I want," Nico says with a big grin. They're still holding hands as Nico tells Paul all about his new job and Paul listens with an intensity that Nico finds surprising. He's used to being the guy that no-one listens to.

When Nico's finished talking Paul pulls him back into a hug. This time Nico knows it's not the beer or the adrenaline or even those big blue eyes persuading him but something deeper and he moves in for a kiss.

He's not sure how they ended up in bed, it was just a gentle kiss that gradually got more insistent, more confident, until Nico was pinned against the wall with Paul pressing against him. Arching his body slowly against Nico's until he's begging for more. Paul's suit is flung off to far reaches of the flat with Nico's clothes following suit.

They're naked but it feels completely natural, perfection in fact, as is the way it tingles when skin touches skin. It's slow and then fast, soft and then passionate but it's all perfect. Every stroke, lick and kiss timed to perfection until Nico's filling Paul with his cock.

The feeling of intimacy. Perfect. The way they fit together. Perfect. The way Paul bites his lip as he comes. Perfect. The way Paul holds him as he's falling asleep. Perfect.

*****

Nico thought it would be nice to get everyone together to celebrate his new job. He's not sure how he ended up friends with Kevin but it just seemed like too much effort to keep being mad at him. And Marcus is a really nice guy, so he can put up with Kevin if it means getting to have a friend like Marcus.

Dany's boyfriend Dan is coming. They've all become good friends after Dany hired Nico to work at his repair shop come internet café and gamer hangout. It's a fun place to work and there are always lots of nice people, geeky people, hanging around.

"So you're not mad at me?" Kevin asks as Dany waves his beer bottle in a menacing but mostly joking way.

"I should be mad but…" Nico looks around at everything he has now, good job, lovely boyfriend (who saved them all from going to jail), wonderful friends. "All this, it's all because of you!" Nico laughs manically, it's all so surreal and yet he wouldn't change a thing.

It's perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> Original prompt “I just committed a crime and I need to use you as a hostage I am so sorry” and then Becci added - Well Kev will definitely have to commit the crime, and I kinda fancy this as and otp3 to be honest with Kevin/Nico/Marcus. With Kevin committing the crime, Marcus as the police officer and Nico as the hostage.  
> And from that this monster of a fic was born!
> 
> *and obviously none of this actually happened, it is all a figment of my twisted imagination ;)


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